Lower Income Tenants

[Zech Ehnert]

I just bought a 4 unit in a C neighborhood and inherited all of the tenants. They are lower income and though we've only collected rent twice, 3 of the 4 units paid late. 

I came from a lower income and understand that some times a penalty can snowball into other problems. I don't want my tenants to be stuck in a trap or feel that they need to take out a Pay Day loan to pay me, but I don't want to be paid late. 

Any advice on an appropriate late fee and how to handle habitually late tenants?

I was thinking of putting in an incentive for early payment. Anyone have experience with this?